Teenage Girls

Marisa O'Neil Three sisters who graduate from Newport Harbor High School today are all approaching the ceremony in their own distinct ways. "I'll probably cry," 18-year-old Kerissa Peters said with a nervous laugh. "I'll probably throw up," her twin, Jessica, worried. "I'm ready to graduate today," their 16-year-old sister Jacqueline Schardt said confidently. While twins graduating in the same class is a given, having a younger sister joining them in caps and gowns doesn't happen every day. But Jacqueline skipped eighth grade, setting up the unusual -- if sometimes difficult -- situation.

Miniature bottles of soap, toothbrushes in neon green, blue and red, toys, white-cotton socks and candy were heaped in rows and tossed into cardboard boxes as teenage girls went through the twisting, never-ending lines preparing care packages for the 1st Marines division troops in Afghanistan. Inside each care package, a red or pink hand-written card with cutout hearts and sticker Cupids decorating the front wished a Marine a Happy Valentine’s Day. National Charity League Inc. put together more than 2,000 care packages for the 1st Division Marines Sunday for its third annual Operation Valentine.

A conference titled "GIRLS 2000: Choices and Dreams" will take place from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Feb. 12 at OCC, 2701 Fairview Road, Costa Mesa. Planned by the American Assn. of University Women Orange County Interbranch Council and a coalition of local nonprofit groups, conference heads will listen to the challenges faced by the teenage girls and then help their mentors guide them to successful futures. Girls and their mentors will learn from national experts about health care, bioethics, financial independence, alternative careers, preventing violence, body image and more.

While Mother's Day can be a time for sentimental reflection and celebration, it also can unleash emotions that surround one of life's most complex relationships. Writers, medical professionals and psychologists provide help for sorting out such sentiments in new books on library shelves. For new mothers, Kate Figes surveys the difficult, exhilarating and traumatic feelings childbirth can unleash in "Life After Birth: What Even Your Friends Won't Tell You About Motherhood."

Jimmy Stroup For some, the simplest gifts are the most valuable. For Amy Stahovich and her staff at Shear Attitude in Newport Beach, giving those gifts in the form of free haircuts, makeovers and skin treatments for people in difficult situations is all part of a day's work. Stahovich, who opened her full-service salon almost two years ago, has donated her time to serve various charities since learning the hairstyling craft. She views her service to others as a simple repayment of fortunes she's received.

Stefanie Frith Mix hundreds of teenage girls with Nashville's version of the Backstreet Boys and you get a room full of ear-popping screams, giggling and more screams. Throw in a fashion show full of this year's hottest prom dresses and, well, you get more screaming. Macy's South Coast Plaza was host to Seventeen Magazine's Prom 2001 Style Tour Saturday afternoon. More than 400 teenage girls and their moms attended the fashion show, which was kicked off by Marshall Dyllon, a band of five young guys from Tennessee.

Deirdre Newman Lillian Contreras remembers how she felt when she became intimately involved with her boyfriend at age 14. "We weren't using protection," said Contreras, who is now 20. "Personally, for me, I was in love. I didn't care. I felt that [getting pregnant] could never happen to me." Her parents had never discussed sex with her at home and she only remembered a little bit of the sex education she received in junior high, she said. She ended up getting pregnant and gave birth to son, Christian Santiesteban, at age 15. Her family was supportive.

STEVE SMITH That was a close one. For a while there, with the Newport Beach area calmed somewhat by the departure of Dennis Rodman from his beach party house, there was speculation as to who was going to take his place as the king of encounters with Orange County law enforcement. Fortunately, young Gregory Haidl has stepped up to the plate. In case you missed it, Haidl, 19, awaiting retrial on charges of raping an unconscious minor girl, was arrested on Thursday and accused of having sex with a different minor girl.

There is some kind of irony in coming home full of the pride and perspective and inspiration New York City provides these days to find that the biggest story to hit the Pilot while I was gone was the agony of Newport Harbor High School cheerleaders who didn't make the squad and whose parents were threatening the system that stiffed them. Is it possible that when our leaders were urging us to return to normalcy after the events of Sept. 11 this is what they had in mind?

Miniature bottles of soap, toothbrushes in neon green, blue and red, toys, white-cotton socks and candy were heaped in rows and tossed into cardboard boxes as teenage girls went through the twisting, never-ending lines preparing care packages for the 1st Marines division troops in Afghanistan. Inside each care package, a red or pink hand-written card with cutout hearts and sticker Cupids decorating the front wished a Marine a Happy Valentine’s Day. National Charity League Inc. put together more than 2,000 care packages for the 1st Division Marines Sunday for its third annual Operation Valentine.

The mother of the 15-year-old girl shot last month outside a home in Costa Mesa’s Shalimar neighborhood said the attack has turned her family’s situation from bad to worse — so much, in fact, that they are now asking the public for help. Denise, the victim’s mother, who asked that her family’s last name not be revealed for safety reasons, said the family needs money for the most basic of necessities including food, gas and her daughter’s pain medication, which isn’t covered by insurance.

A 14-year-old boy was charged as an adult Monday for allegedly taking part in the July 28 shooting of a teenage girl in a Westside Costa Mesa neighborhood, according to prosecutors. Oscar Ramos, also known as ?Silent,? was charged with attempted murder with a gang enhancement and street terrorism Monday for allegedly being one of four who took part in a shooting in Costa Mesa?s Shalimar neighborhood two weeks ago, authorities said. Ramos is a co-defendant with Cesar Pedroza, 17; Nestor Lopez, 15; and Salvador Burciaga Jr., 19, who is the son of community activist Mirna Burciaga.

Jimmy Stroup For some, the simplest gifts are the most valuable. For Amy Stahovich and her staff at Shear Attitude in Newport Beach, giving those gifts in the form of free haircuts, makeovers and skin treatments for people in difficult situations is all part of a day's work. Stahovich, who opened her full-service salon almost two years ago, has donated her time to serve various charities since learning the hairstyling craft. She views her service to others as a simple repayment of fortunes she's received.

STEVE SMITH That was a close one. For a while there, with the Newport Beach area calmed somewhat by the departure of Dennis Rodman from his beach party house, there was speculation as to who was going to take his place as the king of encounters with Orange County law enforcement. Fortunately, young Gregory Haidl has stepped up to the plate. In case you missed it, Haidl, 19, awaiting retrial on charges of raping an unconscious minor girl, was arrested on Thursday and accused of having sex with a different minor girl.

Marisa O'Neil Three sisters who graduate from Newport Harbor High School today are all approaching the ceremony in their own distinct ways. "I'll probably cry," 18-year-old Kerissa Peters said with a nervous laugh. "I'll probably throw up," her twin, Jessica, worried. "I'm ready to graduate today," their 16-year-old sister Jacqueline Schardt said confidently. While twins graduating in the same class is a given, having a younger sister joining them in caps and gowns doesn't happen every day. But Jacqueline skipped eighth grade, setting up the unusual -- if sometimes difficult -- situation.

Deirdre Newman Lillian Contreras remembers how she felt when she became intimately involved with her boyfriend at age 14. "We weren't using protection," said Contreras, who is now 20. "Personally, for me, I was in love. I didn't care. I felt that [getting pregnant] could never happen to me." Her parents had never discussed sex with her at home and she only remembered a little bit of the sex education she received in junior high, she said. She ended up getting pregnant and gave birth to son, Christian Santiesteban, at age 15. Her family was supportive.

While Mother's Day can be a time for sentimental reflection and celebration, it also can unleash emotions that surround one of life's most complex relationships. Writers, medical professionals and psychologists provide help for sorting out such sentiments in new books on library shelves. For new mothers, Kate Figes surveys the difficult, exhilarating and traumatic feelings childbirth can unleash in "Life After Birth: What Even Your Friends Won't Tell You About Motherhood."

There is some kind of irony in coming home full of the pride and perspective and inspiration New York City provides these days to find that the biggest story to hit the Pilot while I was gone was the agony of Newport Harbor High School cheerleaders who didn't make the squad and whose parents were threatening the system that stiffed them. Is it possible that when our leaders were urging us to return to normalcy after the events of Sept. 11 this is what they had in mind?